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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

A SUPPOSED Saudi princess claimed
yesterday that she is so wealthy she has splashed out $1.5 million on
perfume in the past two months.
Her spree has created an Aladdin's cave-style display of opulence which has to be seen to be believed, the High Court heard.
Sara
Al Amoudi is accused of being a one-time penniless Ethiopian prostitute
who posed as a princess to swindle London property developers Amanda
Clutterbuck and Ian Paton out of luxury flats worth $23 million.
But
yesterday the mysterious 'princess' - whose age has been given as
between 31 and 45 - wept in court as she assured the judge she had never
been an impoverished prostitute, that her wealth was genuine and that
she had been on the shopping sprees to prove it.
Miss Al Amoudi,
who arrived at the London court in a Rolls Royce with numberplates
reading 'HRH', told judge Sarah Asplin her shopping addiction was so
serious she had sought medical help.
In heavily accented English, Miss Al Amoudi said: "I have a problem
with shopping - I go to doctor. In the last two months my perfume, only
the perfume - $1.4 million (AU$1.5 million). I can show you the
pictures."
Miss Al Amoudi arrived at court in a full burka and
five-inch platform heels. At the suggestion of the judge she removed her
veil in the witness box, but still attempted to keep her face hidden
from onlookers.
She claims she had an affair with her alleged
victim Mr Paton, 45, behind the back of his lover and business partner
Miss Clutterbuck, 56, and that he borrowed and stole some $8 million of
pocket money she received from Saudi Arabia.She also insists that
when six exclusive flats in Knightsbridge and Chelsea were signed over
to her name, it was simply repayment for his thefts and loans.
But
Mr Paton and Miss Clutterbuck say she swindled them by pretending she
had millions to invest in a massive property project - allegedly
claiming to be an estranged wife of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, 88 -
and are demanding $23 million from her.
Yesterday, Miss Al Amoudi
insisted "in the name of Allah" that she was an honest woman given some
$16.5 million in cash by her family in the past decade.
She
claimed she kept money hidden under her bed and entrusted Mr Paton with
half her cash for "safekeeping", and insisted her only problems were
wild spending.
Miss Al Amoudi said: "I'm afraid I'm addicted to
spending money, and get through enormous amounts of cash. I can easily
spend Pound50,000 (AU$82k) to Pound100,000 (AU$165k) in one spree."
At
any one time she would have "a minimum of Pound100,000 (AU$165k) and
sometimes Pound400,000 (AU$662k)" stashed under a piece of carpet
beneath her bed, she said.
She added that in Saudi Arabia she was
considered "like a criminal" because she had an adulterous relationship,
so her family had to send her pocket money in cash stuffed into
suitcases.
Miss Al Amoudi claimed she married at 13 to a man she
refused to name, saying that he was now a threat to her life and that of
her 13-year-old daughter.
But she claimed her "lover" Mr Paton took advantage of her and that now he and Miss Clutterbuck were lying about her.
Miss
Al Amoudi said: "They say I'm a prostitute. It's not true. I swear to
Allah I'm not liar." She said Mr Paton was a drug user. He denies taking
crack cocaine.
Miss Al Amoudi was accused by a male model
boyfriend in a previous criminal case of having regularly drunk herself
into a stupor at nightclubs. But yesterday, when asked by Stuart
Cakebread, barrister for the plaintiffs: "Do you drink?", she said: "I
will not answer this question because I'm a Muslim woman."
The
court had earlier heard witness Negat Ali, an Ethiopia-born south London
furniture dealer, claim the defendant was a former prostitute
originally from Ethiopia. She claims she came forward after seeing a
picture of Miss Al Amoudi's unveiled face in the Daily Mail.
Miss
Ali claimed she first met the 'princess' in 1985 when Miss Al Amoudi
was operating under a different name and was helping her mother run a
restaurant in the Yemen notorious for luring in rich men and conning
them. She said they fell out later after Miss Al Amoudi failed to repay
an $800 loan.
Miss Ali denied being a disgruntled former maid of the 'princess'. The case continues.
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